The Beach at Deauville

1864

Eugène Boudin

(French, 1824–1898)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

oil on wood panel

Measurements

Framed: 45.7 x 36.8 x 3.5 cm (18 x 14 1/2 x 1 3/8 in.); Unframed: 34.7 x 26 cm (13 11/16 x 10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Homer H. Johnson 1946.71

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism

Did You Know?

Boudin evokes the feeling of wind by painting the fluttering blue dress, the beach walker leaning to the left, the whitecaps on the water, and the angle of the sails on the boat in the distance.

Description

During the 1860s, Boudin executed many paintings and watercolors representing well-to-do tourists and vacationers enjoying seaside resorts in Normandy, principally Trouville and Deauville. In this scene, the informally posed figures suggest a sense of relaxation and intimacy. The overturned chair in the foreground underscores the impression of a casually observed moment, as though a sea breeze or a quick departure by its former occupant has upended it. The majority of Boudin's small oil paintings of beach scenes of the 1860s were executed on wood panel. After laying down a thin white ground, Boudin seems to have begun painting directly, not drawing or laying in guidelines for the forms. The result is a freshness and airiness appropriate to a windy day at the beach.